Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Note 2 - Risks and Uncertainties

v3.20.1
Note 2 - Risks and Uncertainties
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Notes to Financial Statements  
Risks and Uncertainties [Text Block]
2.
Risks and Uncertainties
 
DiaMedica operates in a highly regulated and competitive environment. The development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical products require approval from, and are subject to ongoing oversight by, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in the European Union and comparable agencies in other countries. We are in the clinical stage of development of our initial product candidate,
DM199,
for the treatment of CKD and AIS. The Company has
not
completed the development of any product candidate and, accordingly, has
not
begun to commercialize any product candidate or generate any revenues from the commercial sale of any product candidate.
DM199
requires significant additional clinical testing and investment prior to seeking marketing approval and is
not
expected to be commercially available for at least
three
to
five
years, if at all. The Company’s future success is dependent upon the success of its development efforts, its ability to demonstrate clinical progress for its
DM199
product candidate in the United States or other markets, its ability to obtain required governmental approvals of its product candidate, its ability to license or market and sell its
DM199
product candidate and its ability to obtain additional financing to fund these efforts.
 
As of
December 31, 2019,
we have incurred losses of
$56.6
million since our inception in
2000.
For the year ended
December 31, 2019,
we incurred a net loss of
$10.6
 million and negative cash flows from operating activities of
$9.1
million. We expect to continue to incur operating losses until such time as any future product sales, royalty payments, licensing fees and/or milestone payments are sufficient to generate revenue to fund our continuing operations. Further, we expect our operating losses to continue as we pursue the research, development and clinical trials of, and to seek regulatory approval for, our product candidate. In addition, we expect our operating expenses to increase in
2020
compared to
2019
to support our ongoing clinical and organizational development. As of
December 31, 2019,
we had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of
$7.9
million, working capital of
$7.5
million and shareholders’ equity of
$7.6
million. On
February 13, 2020,
we issued and sold an aggregate of
2,125,000
common shares in a public underwritten offering at a public offering price of
$4.00
per share, receiving gross proceeds of
$8.5
million and net proceeds of approximately
$7.7
million, after deducting the underwriting discount and offering expenses. See Note
17
titled “Subsequent Event.”
 
Our principal sources of cash have included net proceeds from the issuance of equity securities. See Note
12
titled “Shareholders’ Equity” and Note
17
titled “Subsequent Event” for additional information. Although the Company has previously been successful in obtaining financing through equity securities offerings, there is
no
assurance that we will be able to do so in the future. This is particularly true if our clinical data is
not
positive or economic and market conditions deteriorate.
 
We expect that we will need substantial additional capital to further our research and development activities, complete the required clinical trials, regulatory activities and otherwise develop our product candidate,
DM199,
or any future product candidates, to a point where they
may
be commercially sold. We expect our current cash, supplemented by the net proceeds of our
February 2020
public offering, to be sufficient to allow us to complete our currently ongoing Phase II REMEDY trial in patients with AIS and currently ongoing Phase II study in patients with CKD and to otherwise fund our planned operations through
2021.
However, the amount and timing of our future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including the timing and results of ongoing development efforts, the potential expansion of current development programs, potential new development programs and related general and administrative support. We
may
require significant additional funds earlier than we currently expect and there is
no
assurance that we will
not
need or seek additional funding prior to such time.